Chopin - Composers - Classic FM Classic FM News Now Playing Schedule Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music. Life and Music Frederic Chopin was born in Poland, west of Warsaw, on either February 22nd or March 1st 1810 - local records differ with when Chopin's parents claimed he was born. Chopin was composing and writing poetry at six, and gave his first public concerto performance at the age of eight. In 1822 Chopin came under the personal supervision of Jozef Elsner, the founder-director of the Warsaw Conservatory. He became a leading advocate of 'absolute music', producing some of the earliest Romantic pieces and arguably the finest body of solo music for the piano.

Chopin dedicated his second piano concerto (1830) to Delfina Potocka, with whom he hit the headlines during the 1940s when a sensational series of highly erotic (forged) love letters were discovered. In 1836 Chopin met the novelist George Sand (alias Aurore Dudevant), and so began one of the most famous love affairs in the history of music. The pair split up in 1847. Chopin's Funeral March, one of the piano repertoire's most famous works, was composed in 1837. By 1841, both sets of Chopin's Etudes had been published. They went on to become indispensable tomes for piano students everywhere. Among the most famous of his works was composed late in his life - The Minute Waltz was finished in 1847. Chopin's health began to deteriorate rapidly and he left for England at the invitation of his Scottish piano pupil, Jane Stirling. He returned to Paris, where, despite gifts of money and many kind attempts to comfort him, he died on 17 October 1849. Did you know?

Chopin paid for his expensive lifestyle by giving piano lessons to rich people in Paris. He never liked the idea of asking them for money, so would look away while they left the fee on his mantelpiece. The fast and friendly guide to Chopin Classic FM's Fast and Friendly Guide to Chopin 01:53 Frederic Chopin Frederic Chopin Location of death: Paris, France Cause of death: Tuberculosis Nationality: Poland Executive summary: Composer for the piano Polish musical composer and pianist born at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw, on the 22nd of February 1810. His father, of French origin, born at Nancy in 1770, had married a Polish lady, Justine Krzyzanowska. Frederic was their third child. His first musical education he received from Adalbert Ziwny, a Czech musician, who is said to have been a passionate admirer of Johann Sebastian Bach .

He also received a good general education at one of the first colleges of Warsaw, where he was supported by Prince Antoine Radziwill, a generous protector of artistic talent and himself well known as the composer of music to Goethe 's Faust and other works. His musical genius opened to Chopin the best circles of Polish society, at that time unrivaled in Europe for its ease of intercourse, the beauty and grace of its women, and its liberal appreciation of artistic gifts. These early impressions were of lasting influence on Chopin's development. While at college he received thorough instruction in the theory of his art from Joseph Elsner, a learned musician and director of the conservatoire at Warsaw. When in 1829 he left his native town for Vienna, where his debut as a pianist took place, he was in all respects a perfectly formed and developed artist. There is in his compositions little of that gradual progress which, for instance, in Beethoven necessitates a classification of his works according to different periods. Chopin's individuality and his style were distinctly pronounced in that set of variations on La ci darem which excited the wondering enthusiasn of Robert Schumann.

In 1831 he left Vienna with the intention of visiting London; but on his way to England he reached Paris and settled there for the rest of his life. Here again he soon became the favorite and musical hero of society. His connection with Madame Dudevant, better known by her literary pseudonym of George Sand , is an important feature of Chopin's life. When in 1839 his health began to fail, George Sand went with him to Majorca, and it was mainly owing to her tender care that the composer recovered his health for a time. Chopin declared that the destruction of his relations with Madame Dudevant in 1847 broke up his life. The association of these two artists has provoked a whole literature on the nature of their relations, of which the novelists Un Hiver � Majorque was the beginning. The last ten years of Chopin's life were a continual struggle with the pulmonary disease to which he succumbed in Paris on the 17th of October 1849. The year before his death he visited England, where he was received with enthusiasm by his numerous admirers. Chopin died in the arms of his sister, who hastened from Poland to his death-bed.

He was buried in the cemetery of P�re Lachaise. A small monument was erected to the memory of the composer at Wasswan in 1880. Portraits and medallions of Chopin were executed by Ary Scheffer and Eug�ne Delacroix , and by the sculptors Bary and Cl�singer. A distinguished English amateur thus records his impressions of Chopin's style of pianoforte-playing compared with those of other masters. "His technical characteristics may be broadly indicated as negation of bravura, absolute perfection of fingerplay, and of the legatissimo touch, on which no other pianist has ever so entirely leant, to the exclusion of that high relief and point which the modern German school, after the examples of Liszt and Thalberg, has so effectively developed. It is in these feature that we must recognize that Grundverschiedenheit (fundamental difference) which according to Felix Mendelssohn distinguished Chopin's playing from that of these masters, and in no less degree from the example and teaching of Moscheles...

Imagine a delicate man of extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano and playing with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending entirely upon his narrow feminine hands and slender fingers. The wide arpeggios in the left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper-pedal, formed a harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time (tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte. His playing as a whole was unique in its kind, and no traditions of it can remain, for there is no school of Chopin the pianist, for the obvious reason that he could never be regarded as a public player, and his best pupils were nearly all amateurs." In looking through the list of his compositions, teeming with mazurkas, valses, polonaises, and other forms of national dance music, one could hardly suppose that here one of the most melancholy natures has revealed itself.

This seeming paradox is solved by the type of Chopin's nationality, of which it has justly been said that its very dances are sadness intensified. But notwithstanding this strongly pronounced national type of his compositions, his music is always expressive of his individual feelings and sufferings to a degree rarely met with in the annals of the art. He is indeed the lyrical composer par excellence of the modern school, and the intensity of his expression finds its equal in literature only in the songs of Heinrich Heine , to whom Chopin has been justly compared. A sensation of such high-strung passion cannot be prolonged. Hence we see that the shorter forms of music, the �tude, the nocturne, besides the national dances already alluded to, are chosen by Chopin in preference. Even when he treats the larger forms of the concerto or the sonata this concentrated, not to say pointed, character of Chopin's style becomes obvious. The more extended dimensions seem to encumber the freedom of his movements. The concerto for pianoforte with accompaniment of the orchestra in E may be instanced.

Here the adagio takes the form of a romance, and in the final rondo the rhythm of a Polish dance becomes recognizable while the instrumentation throughout is meagre and wanting in color. Chopin is out of his element, and even the beauty of his melodies and harmonies cannot wholly banish the impression of incongruity. Fortunately he himself knew the limits of his power, and with very few exceptions his works belong to that class of minor compositions of which he was an unrivaled master. Barring a collection of Polish songs, two concertos, and a very small number of concerted pieces of chamber music, almost all his works are written for the pianoforte solo; the symphony, the oratorio, the opera, he never attempted. Father: Mikolaj Chopin Frédéric Chopin - Biography - IMDb Frédéric Chopin Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (2) | Trivia (4) Overview (4) Frycek Mini Bio (2) Frédéric François Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, on March 1, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Masovia region, Duchy of Warsaw, Poland.

His father, named Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin, was a Frenchman who came to Poland from Lorraine, and eventually became professor at Warsaw Lyceum. His mother, named Tekla Justina Krzyzanovska, was a relative of Polish Countess Ludwika Skarbkowa, owner of the Zelazowa Wola estate. From 1816-1822 Chopin studied piano under professional musician Wojcech Zywny. He wrote his first piano compositions at the age of 7. In 1820, then ten-year-old Chopin moved with his parents to Warsaw. There he gained a reputation as a "second Mozart" for his piano playing. From 1823-1826 Chopin studied at the Warsaw Lyceum. In 1824 he was influenced by the Jewish folklore and composed Mazurka in A minor, called "The Jewish" by Chopin himself. From 1826-1830 he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory under pianist Wilhelm Wurfel and composer Josef Elsner.

In 1829 Chopin attended a performance of Niccolò Paganini in Warsaw. In the same year Chopin gave solo concerts in Vienna and premiered his Piano Concerto No.1 in F minor. In 1830 he premiered his Piano Concerto No.2 in E minor at the National Theatre in Warsaw. He visited Vienna again in November of same year and played his two piano concertos with great success. After Vienna he continued his concert tour to Munich and Stuttgart. There he learned of the invasion of the Russian Army in Poland, and composed the Etude in C minor, called Revolutionary. Chopin chose the status of a political exile and finally emigrated to Paris, France. From 1830-1849 Chopin established himself as composer and piano player in Paris. There he changed his name into Frédéric François Chopin. In Paris he met Franz Liszt , who initiated a friendship, and they played together in several concerts, but later became rivals. Chopin formed personal friendship with composer and critic Hector Berlioz . His other personal friends were Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Vincenzo Bellini .

In 1835 he made a trip to Dresden and Karlsbad, where he visited with his relatives and accompanied them to Poland. He became seriously ill with bronchial asthma on his way back to Paris. In 1836 he proposed to a seventeen-year-old Polish girl, named Maria Wodzinska, and she accepted. Their engagement lasted for several months, but was called off in 1837 by her mother after a certain manipulative influence by George Sand . In October of 1836, in Paris Chopin met George Sand at a party hosted by Marie d'Agoult, mistress of Franz Liszt . Initially Chopin commented on Sand: "What an antipathetic woman". In June of 1837 Sand wrote in a letter to her friend about her agenda to abandon another affair in order to start a relationship with Chopin. George Sand was strongly attracted to Chopin, she destroyed his engagement to Maria Wodzinska, and dominated his life for nine years. Chopin and Sand had a turbulent relationship. In 1839, during their first winter vacation together on Mallorca, Sand took along her children from her previous marriage.

At Mallorca Chopin did not have a decent piano to practice, while he was composing his 'Raindrop' prelude. Sand witnessed the completion of Chopin's greatest masterpiece, the cycle of 24 Preludes. He had to struggle with a poor rental piano and became unhappy and fell ill, but received little help from local doctors. Later Chopin enjoyed a better environment at Sand's estate in Nohant. There his creativity flourished during the summers of 1839 until 1843. At that time Chopin composed many important works. However, Chopin and Sand were not a good match, and eventually their differences prevailed. Sand was a pipe smoker and a flamboyant party goer. Chopin suffered from bronchial asthma and tuberculosis and needed a quiet solitude for his music. In George Sand's violent quarrel with her daughter Solange, Chopin defended the daughter. Sand left Chopin. In February of 1848 Chopin gave his last concerts in Paris. He went to England and Scotland in November of 1848, and fell ill there. He gave his last concerts in London while being severely ill.

He returned to Paris, but was unable to teach or perform for several months during 1849. Shortly before he died, sensing the end was near, Chopin had requested that Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart be sung at his funeral service at the Church of the Madeleine. He also requested that his heart be removed and brought in an urn to Warsaw, Poland. Chopin died on October 17, 1849, but could not be buried for two weeks, because the church did not allow female singers for the Mozart's Requiem. At last, the church relented and the funeral was held on October 30, 1849. A crowd of four thousand attended the ceremony. Composer Berlioz, artist Delacroix, poet Adam Mickiewicz , singer Viardot, were present among many others from cultural circles - but notably absent was George Sand. Chopin's heart was dispatched in an urn to Warsaw, and his body was laid to rest in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France.

Frédéric Chopin - Long Biography - Music Sales Classical Nationality: Polish Publisher: AMP Virtuoso pianist and composer Frederic Chopin was born in Poland in February 1810. He is generally respected as one of the leading musicians of his generation and wrote almost exclusively for the piano. He was a child prodigy and composed a number of works as well as completing his musical training by the age of 20. At the age of 21, he moved to Paris and over the next 18 years, only gave 30 public performances, preferring instead the more intimate nature of salons. He survived by selling his compositions and teaching the piano, which was easy for him as he was a much sought-after teacher. He was a very good friend of fellow virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt as well as being respected by many of the other composers in Paris at the time, including Robert Schumann. Although his reputation is substantial, his life was not long, dying at the age of just 39 in 1849. He had battled with poor health all his life and it is suspected that he eventually succumbed to tuberculosis.

The reputation of his works for piano as almost a ‘stepping-stone ‘in process of becoming a pianist has ensured his reputation surviving in its entirety all the way through to the modern day. Close X Please fill in this form to receive regular news Orchestral Chopin : Biography biography Click here for Chopin's quotes and quotes of others about Chopin >>> Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist, was born on 1 March 1810, according to the statements of the artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate, which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola near Sochaczew, in the region of Mazovia, which was part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The manor-house in Zelazowa Wola belonged to Count Skarbek and Chopin's father, Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized Frenchman, was employed there as a tutor.

He had been born in 1771 in Marainville in the province of Lorraine in France, but already as a child he had established contacts with the Polish families of Count Michal Pac and the manager of his estate, Jan Adam Weydlich. At the age of 16, Mikolaj accompanied them to Poland where he settled down permanently. He never returned to France and did not retain contacts with his French family but brought up his children as Poles. In 1806, Mikolaj Chopin married Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska, who was the housekeeper for the Skarbek family at Zelazowa Wola. They had four children: three daughters Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia, and a son Fryderyk, the second child. Several months after his birth, the whole family moved to Warsaw, where Mikolaj Chopin was offered the post of French language and literature lecturer in the Warsaw Lyceum. He also ran a boarding school for sons of the gentry. The musical talent of Fryderyk became apparent extremely early on, and it was compared with the childhood genius of Mozart.

Already at the age of 7, Fryderyk was the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and "little Chopin" became the attraction and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts. His first professional piano lessons, given to him by Wojciech Zywny (b. 1756 in Bohemia), lasted from 1816 to 1822, when the teacher was no longer able to give any more help to the pupil whose skills surpassed his own. The further development of Fryderyk's talent was supervised by Wilhelm Wï¿½rfel (b.1791 in Bohemia), the renowned pianist and professor at the Warsaw Conservatory who was to offer valuable, although irregular, advice as regards playing the piano and organ. From 1823 to 1826, Fryderyk attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the professors.

He spent his summer holidays in estates belonging to the parents of his school friends in various parts of the country. For example, he twice visited Szafarnia in the Kujawy region where he revealed a particular interest in folk music and country traditions. The young composer listened to and noted down the texts of folk songs, took part in peasant weddings and harvest festivities, danced, and played a folk instrument resembling a double bass with the village musicians; all of which he described in his letters. Chopin became well acquainted with the folk music of the Polish plains in its authentic form, with its distinct tonality, richness of rhythms and dance vigour. When composing his first mazurkas in 1825, as well as the later ones, he resorted to this source of inspiration which he kept in mind until the very end of his life. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying the theory of music, figured bass and composition at the Warsaw High School of Music, which was both part of the Conservatory and, at the same time, connected with Warsaw University. Its head was the composer Jï¿½zef Elsner (b. 1769 in Silesia).

Chopin, however, did not attend the piano class. Aware of the exceptional nature of Chopin's talent, Elsner allowed him, in accordance with his personality and temperament, to concentrate on piano music but was unbending as regards theoretical subjects, in particular counterpoint. Chopin, endowed by nature with magnificent melodic invention, ease of free improvisation and an inclination towards brilliant effects and perfect harmony, gained in Elsner's school a solid grounding, discipline, and precision of construction, as well as an understanding of the meaning and logic of each note. This was the period of the first extended works such as the Sonata in C minor, Variations, op. 2 on a theme from Don Juan by Mozart, the Rondo ï¿½ la Krakowiak, op. 14, the Fantaisie, op. 13 on Polish Airs (the three last ones written for piano and orchestra) and the Trio in G minor, op. 8 for piano, violin and cello.

Chopin ended his education at the High School in 1829, and after the third year of his studies Elsner wrote in a report: "Chopin, Fryderyk, third year student, amazing talent, musical genius". After completing his studies, Chopin planned a longer stay abroad to become acquainted with the musical life of Europe and to win fame. Up to then, he had never left Poland, with the exception of two brief stays in Prussia. In 1826, he had spent a holiday in Bad Reinertz (modern day Duszniki-Zdrï¿½j) in Lower Silesia, and two years later he had accompanied his father's friend, Professor Feliks Jarocki, on his journey to Berlin to attend a congress of naturalists. Here, quite unknown to the Prussian public, he concentrated on observing the local musical scene. Now he pursued bolder plans. In July 1829 he made a short excursion to Vienna in the company of his acquaintances.

Wilhelm Wï¿½rfel, who had been staying there for three years, introduced him to the musical milieu, and enabled Chopin to give two performances in the Kï¿½rtnertortheater, where, accompanied by an orchestra, he played Variations, op.2 on a Mozart theme and the Rondo ï¿½ la Krakowiak, op. 14 , as well as performing improvisations. He enjoyed tremendous success with the public, and although the critics censured his performance for its small volume of sound, they acclaimed him as a genius of the piano and praised his compositions. Consequently, the Viennese publisher Tobias Haslinger printed the Variations on a theme from Mozart (1830). This was the first publication of a Chopin composition abroad, for up to then, his works had only been published in Warsaw. Upon his return to Warsaw, Chopin, already free from student duties, devoted himself to composition and wrote, among other pieces, two Concertos for piano and orchestra: in F minor and E minor. The first concerto was inspired to a considerable extent by the composer's feelings towards Konstancja Gladkowska, who studied singing at the Conservatory.

This was also the period of the first nocturne, etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, and songs to words by Stefan Witwicki. During the last months prior to his planned longer stay abroad, Chopin gave a number of public performances, mainly in the National Theatre in Warsaw where the premiï¿½re of both concertos took place. Originally, his destination was to be Berlin, where the artist had been invited by Prince Antoni Radziwill, the governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, who had been appointed by the king of Prussia, and who was a long-standing admirer of Chopin's talent and who, in the autumn of 1829, was his host in Antonin. Chopin, however, ultimately chose Vienna where he wished to consolidate his earlier success and establish his reputation. On 11 October 1830, he gave a ceremonial farewell concert in the National Theatre in Warsaw, during which he played the Concerto in E minor, and K. Gladkowska sang. On 2 November, together with his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, Chopin left for Austria, with the intention of going on to Italy.

Several days after their arrival in Vienna, the two friends learnt about the outbreak of the uprising in Warsaw, against the subservience of the Kingdom of Poland to Russia and the presence of the Russian Tsar on the Polish throne. This was the beginning of a months-long Russo-Polish war. T. Woyciechowski returned to Warsaw to join the insurgent army, while Chopin, succumbing to the persuasion of his friend, stayed in Vienna. In low spirits and anxious about the fate of his country and family, he ceased planning the further course of his career, an attitude explained in a letter to J. Elsner: "In vain does Malfatti try to convince me that every artist is a cosmopolitan. Even if so, as an artist, I am still in my cradle, as a Pole, I am already twenty; I hope, therefore that, knowing me well, you will not chide me that so far I have not thought about the programme of the concert". The performance ultimately took place on 11 June 1831, in the Kï¿½rtnerthortheater, where Chopin played the Concerto in E minor. The eight months spent in Vienna were not wasted.

Strong and dramatic emotional experiences inspired the creative imagination of the composer, probably accelerating the emergence of a new, individual style, quite different from his previous brilliant style. The new works, which revealed force and passion, included the sketch of the Scherzo in B minor and, above all, the powerful Etudes from op. 10. Having given up his plans for a journey to Italy, due to the hostilities there against Austria, Chopin resolved to go to Paris. On the way, he first stopped in Munich where he gave a concert on the 28th of August and then went on to Stuttgart. Here he learnt about the dramatic collapse of the November Uprising and the capture of Warsaw by the Russians. His reaction to this news assumed the form of a fever and nervous crisis. Traces of these experiences are encountered in the so-called Stuttgart diary: "The enemy is in the house (...) Oh God, do You exist? You do and yet You do not avenge. - Have You not had enough of Moscow's crimes - or - or are You Yourself a Muscovite [...] I here, useless! And I here empty-handed. At times I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at my piano!".

In the autumn of 1831 Chopin arrived in Paris where he met many fellow countrymen. Following the national defeat, thousands of exiles, including participants of the armed struggle, politicians, representatives of Polish culture, such as the writer Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Romantic poets A. Mickiewicz and Juliusz Slowacki, and the Warsaw friends of Chopin, the poets Stefan Witwicki and Bohdan Zaleski, sought refuge from the Russian occupation in a country and city which they found most friendly. Chopin made close contacts with the so-called Great Emigration, befriended its leader Prince Adam Czartoryski, and became a member of the Polish Literary Society, which he supported financially. He also attended emigrï¿½ meetings, played at charity concerts held for poor emigrï¿½s, and organised similar events. In Paris, his reputation as an artist grew rapidly. Letters of recommendation which the composer brought from Vienna allowed him immediately to join the local musical milieu, which welcomed him cordially. Chopin became the friend of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Ferdinand Hiller, Berlioz and Auguste Franchomme.

Later on, in 1835, in Leipzig, he also met Schumann who held his works in great esteem and wrote enthusiastic articles about the Polish composer. Upon hearing the performance of the unknown arrival from Warsaw, the great pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner, called the king of the piano, organised a concert for Chopin which took place on the 26th of February 1832 in the Salle Pleyel. The ensuing success was enormous, and he quickly became a famous musician, renowned throughout Paris. This rise to fame aroused the interest of publishers and by the summer of 1832, Chopin had signed a contract with the leading Parisian publishing firm of Schlesinger. At the same time, his compositions were published in Leipzig by Probst, and then Breitkopf, and in London by Wessel. The most important source of Chopin's income in Paris was, however, from giving lessons. He became a popular teacher among the Polish and French aristocracy and Parisian salons were his favourite place for performances.

As a pianist, Chopin was ranked among the greatest artists of his epoch, such as Kalkbrenner, Liszt, Thalberg and Herz, but, in contrast to them, he disliked public performances and appeared rarely and rather unwillingly. In a friendly, intimate group of listeners he disclosed supreme artistry and the full scale of his pianistic and expressive talents. Having settled down in Paris, Chopin deliberately chose the status of an emigrï¿½. Despite the requests of his father, he did not obey the Tsarist regulations, issued in subjugated Poland, and never extended his passport in the Russian embassy. Consequently, being regarded as a political refugee, Chopin deprived himself of the possibility of legally revisiting his homeland. He longed to see his family and friends and, seeking refuge against loneliness, decided to share accommodation with the physician Aleksander Hoffman, another Polish exile, and after the latter's departure from Paris, with his Warsaw friend, former insurgent and physician, Jan Matuszynski. In this situation, the composer could meet his parents only outside Poland and when in August 1835 they went to Karlsbad for a cure, Chopin soon followed.

Afterwards, while in nearby Dresden, he renewed his acquaintance with the Wodzinski family. Years earlier, the three young Wodzinski sons had stayed in the boarding house managed by Mikolaj Chopin. Their younger sister, Maria, now an adolescent, showed considerable musical and artistic talent and Chopin fell in love with her and wanted to marry her and set up a family home of his own in exile. The following year, during a holiday spent together with the seventeen year-old Maria and her mother in Marienbad (modern day Mï¿½rianskï¿½ Lï¿½zne in the Czech Republic), and then in Dresden, he proposed and was accepted on the condition that he would take better care of his health. The engagement was unofficial, and did not end in marriage, for after a year-long "trial" period, Maria's parents, disturbed by the bad state of the health of her fiancï¿½ who was seriously ill in the winter, and especially by his irregular lifestyle, viewed him as an unsuitable partner for their daughter. Chopin found this rejection an extremely painful experience, and labelled the letters from the Wodzinski family, tied into a small bundle, "My sorrow".

In July 1837, Chopin travelled to London in the company of Camille Pleyel in the hope of forgetting all unpleasant memories. Soon afterwards, he entered into a close liaison with the famous French writer George Sand. This author of daring novels, older by six years, and a divorcee with two children, offered the lonely artist what he missed most from the time when he left Warsaw: extraordinary tenderness, warmth and maternal care. The lovers spent the winter of 1838/1839 on the Spanish island of Majorca, living in a former monastery in Valdemosa. There, due to unfavourable weather conditions, Chopin became gravely ill and showed symptoms of tuberculosis. For many weeks, he remained so weak as to be unable to leave the house but nonetheless, continued to work intensively and composed a number of masterpieces: the series of 24 preludes, the Polonaise in C minor, the Ballade in F major, and the Scherzo in C sharp minor.

On his return from Majorca in the spring of 1839, and following a convalescence in Marseilles, Chopin, still greatly weakened, moved to George Sand's manor house in Nohant, in central France. Here, he was to spend long vacations up to 1846, with the exception of 1840, returning to Paris only for the winters. This was the happiest, and the most productive, period in his life after he left his family home. The majority of his most outstanding and profound works were composed in Nohant. In Paris, the composer and writer were treated as a married couple, although they were never married. Both had common friends among the artistic circles of the capital, such as the painter Delacroix and the singer Pauline Viardot, as well as the Polish emigrï¿½s, such as A. Mickiewicz and W. Grzymala. For years, the couple enjoyed a deep love and friendship, but with time the increasingly hostile attitude of George Sand's son, who exerted a strong influence on the writer, caused ever more serious conflicts. A final parting of ways took place in July 1847.

Grievous personal experiences as well as the loss of Nohant, so important for the health and creativity of the composer, had a devastating effect on Chopin's mental and physical state. He almost completely gave up composition, and from then to the end of his life wrote only a few miniatures. In April 1848, persuaded by his Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling, Chopin left for England and Scotland. Together with her sister, Miss Stirling organised concerts and visits in various localities, including the castles of the Scottish aristocracy. This exceptionally hectic life style and excessive strain on his strength from constant travelling and numerous performances, together with a climate deleterious to his lungs, further damaged his health. On 16 November 1848, despite frailty and a fever, Chopin gave his last concert, playing for Polish emigrï¿½s in the Guildhall in London. A few days later, he returned to Paris His rapidly progressing disease made it impossible to continue giving lessons. In the summer of 1849, Ludwika Jedrzejewiczowa, the eldest sister of the composer, came from Warsaw to take care of her ill brother.

On 17 October 1849, Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in his Parisian flat in the Place Vendï¿½me. He was buried in the Pï¿½re-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. In accordance with his will, however, his heart, taken from his body after death, was brought by his sister to Warsaw where it was placed in an urn installed in a pillar of the Holy Cross church in Krakowskie Przedmiscie. (by Barbara Smolenska-Zielinska, from the Official Chopin Homepage) Recommended books on Chopin's biography: - William G. Atwood, The Parisian worlds of Frédéric Chopin , Yale University Press, 1999 - Frederic Chopin, Chopin's letters , edited by E.L. Voynich, Dover, 1988 - Alfred Cortot, In search of Chopin , translated from French by Cyril and Rena Clarke, Greenwood Press, 1952 Frederic Chopin biography - 8notes.com Frederic Chopin biography 1849, Paris Summary: Polish composer renowned for his piano works.

A great Romantic composer, who nevertheless wrote absolute music with formal titles such as Mazurkas, Impromptus, Waltzes, Nocturnes. Popular Sheet Music: View All Frederic Chopin Biography Fr�d�ric-Fran�ois Chopin (March 1, 1810 � October 17, 1849) is widely seen as the greatest of Polish composers and among the very greatest of composers for the piano , the instrument for which he wrote almost exclusively. He was born as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, adopting the French variant 'Fr�d�ric-Fran�ois' when he left Poland for Paris at age 20, never to return. His surname is also sometimes spelled Szopen in Polish texts. He was another one of the extremely rare child prodigies, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn . Fr�d�ric-Fran�ois Chopin, portrayed by Eug�ne Delacroix . Contents 7.1 Recordings Biography According to the artist himself and his family, Chopin was born on March 1, 1810.

However, his baptismal certificate, written several weeks after his birth, lists his birthdate as February 22. Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola in central Poland near Sochaczew , in the region of Mazovia , which was part of the Duchy of Warsaw . He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin , a Polonized Frenchman and to his Polish mother, Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska . Formative Years The musical talent of young Chopin became apparent early on and can be compared with the childhood genius of Mozart . At the age of 7, he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B-flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and 'little Chopin' became the attraction at receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts. His first professional piano lessons, given to him by the violinist Wojciech Żywny (b.

1756 in Bohemia ), lasted from 1816 to 1822, when the teacher was no longer able to give any more help to the pupil whose skills surpassed his own. The only known photograph of Fr�d�ric Chopin, taken during the degenerative stages of his tuberculosis The further development of Chopin's talent was supervised by Wilhelm W�rfel (b. 1791 in Bohemia ). This renowned pianist and professor at the Warsaw Conservatory gave Chopin valuable (although irregular) lessons in playing organ (music) , and possibly piano. From 1823 to 1826, Chopin attended the Warsaw Lyceum, where his father was a professor. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying music theory, figured bass , and composition with the composer J�zef Elsner (b. 1769 in Silesia ) at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1831 he left Poland for Vienna before settling in Paris where he spent much of his life. Career in Paris Chopin first visited Vienna in early 1829, where he gave a piano performace and received his first favorable reviews.

The following year he returned to Warsaw and performed the premiere of his Piano Concerto in F Minor at the National Theater on March 17. By 1831 Chopin had left Poland for good and settled in Paris. He began work on his first scherzi and ballades as well as the first book of �tudes. It is also at this time that he began his lifelong struggle with tuberculosis . The early and mid-1830s in Paris were a productive time for the composer. He completed several of his most famous works and also performed regular concerts, to rave reviews. By 1838 Chopin had become a famous figure in Paris. Among his closest friends were opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (beside whom he is buried in the P�re Lachaise ), and painter Eug�ne Delacroix . He was also friends with composers Hector Berlioz , Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann , and although he was at times critical of their music, Chopin dedicated some of his own compositions to them. Chopin and George Sand In 1836 Chopin was secretly engaged to a seventeen-year-old Polish girl named Maria Wodzinska.

The engagement was later called off. In that same year, at a party hosted by Countess Marie d'Agoult , Chopin met the novelist Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, better known by her pseudonym as George Sand . Sand's correspondence suggests that Chopin was asexual ; that is, that he had no inclination to have sexual relations with anyone, male or female. Even so, his relationship with Sand lasted for ten years until they parted after arguments over Sand's children. A notable episode in their time together was a turbulent and miserable winter on Majorca (1838�1839) living in unheated peasant huts and in the then-abandoned (and equally cold) Valldemossa monastery. 1 �( Chopin would also later complain of having to go to great lengths to obtain a piano from Paris and of the difficulty of moving it uphill to the monastery. Chopin reflected much of the mood of this desperate time in the twenty-four pr�ludes , Op. 28, the majority of which were written in Majorca.

The weather had such a serious impact on Chopin's health and his chronic lung disease that he and George Sand were compelled to return to Paris to save his life. He survived but never recovered from this bout. Death and Funeral By the 1840s Chopin's health was rapidly deteriorating. He and Sand took several trips to remote locations, such as Nohant-Vic , to no avail. By 1849 most of his major works were completed and Chopin concentrated on mazurkas and nocturnes . His last work was a mazurka, in F minor. Chopin died, officially, of tuberculosis in 1849, although there is some speculation that he may have had another disease such as cystic fibrosis or emphysema due in part to autopsy findings (reported only by his sister) seemingly inconsistent with the initial diagnosis. He had a terror of being buried alive, and asked to be 'cut open' to make sure he was dead. The grave of Chopin in Paris He had requested that Mozart's Requiem be sung at his funeral, held at the Church of the Madeleine .

The Requiem has major parts for female singers but the Madeleine had never permitted female singers in its choir. The funeral was delayed for almost 2 weeks while the matter raged, the church finally relenting and granting Chopin's final wish. Although Chopin is buried in the P�re Lachaise cemetery in Paris, his heart is entombed in a pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw . Music Chopin's music for the piano combined a unique rhythmic sense (particularly his use of rubato, chromatic inflections, and the style of Johann Sebastian Bach ), as well as a piano technique which was of his own creation. This mixture produces a particularly fragile sound in the melody and the harmony, which are nonetheless underpinned by solid and interesting harmonic techniques. He took the new salon genre of the nocturne , invented by Irish composer John Field , to a deeper level of sophistication, and endowed popular dance forms, such as the Polish mazurka and the Viennese waltz with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin was the first to write Ballades (a genre he invented) and the Scherzi as individual pieces.

Chopin also took the example of Bach's pr�ludes and transformed the genre. Several melodies of Chopin's have become well known; because of their unique melodic shape they are instantly memorable and easily recognized. Among these are the Revolutionary �tude (Op. 10, No. 12), the Minute Waltz (Op. 64, No. 1), and the third movement of his Funeral March sonata (Op. 35), which is used as an iconic representation of grief. Interestingly, the Revolutionary Etude was not written with the failed Polish uprising against Russia in mind, it merely appeared at that time. The Funeral March was written for funerals, but it was not inspired by any recent personal loss of Chopin's. Other melodies have even been used as the basis of popular songs, such as the slow section of the Fantaisie-Impromptu (Op. 66). These pieces often rely on an intense and personalized chromaticism, as well as a melodic curve that resembles the operas of Chopin's day - the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and especially Bellini.

Chopin used the piano to re-create the gracefulness of the singing voice, and talked and wrote constantly about singers. Chopin's style and gifts became increasingly influential: Schumann was a huge admirer of Chopin's music � although the feeling was not mutual � and he took melodies from Chopin and even named a piece of his Carnaval Suite after Chopin; Franz Liszt , another great admirer of the composer, transcribed several Chopin songs for unaccompanied piano. Liszt later dedicated a movement of his 'Harmonies Po�tiques et Religieuses' to Chopin, titling it 'Fun�railles' and laconically dedicating it 'October 1849.' The mid-section recalls, powerfully, the famous octave trio section of Chopin's Opus 53 Polonaise. Chopin had strong opinions of how his music should be performed and many common performances practices of Chopin today are at odds with his aesthetic. Arguably, some of the best records of Chopin include those by Koczalski , Friedman, Cortot , Rubinstein , Malcuzynski, Janis , Magaloff, Pollini and Zimerman.

Chopin performed his own works in concert halls but most often in his salon for friends. Only later in life, as his disease progressed, did Chopin give up public performance altogether. Several of Chopin's piano works carry with them their own technique: his pr�ludes (Op. 28) and �tudes (Op. 10 and 25) rapidly became standard works. They also became influential, inspiring both Liszt's Transcendental �tudes and Schumann's Symphonic �tudes . Chopin and Romanticism Chopin regarded the Romantic movement with indifference, if not distaste, and rarely associated himself with it directly. Even so, today Chopin's music is considered to be the paragon of the Romantic style. All of his works, without exception, involve the piano, whether solo or accompanied. They are predominantly for solo piano but include a small number of works for piano and secondary instruments, including a second piano, violin, cello, voice, and orchestra. Works Chopin's compositional output consists mainly of music for solo piano .

His larger scale works such as the ballades , scherzos , the barcarolle, and sonatas have cemented a solid place within the repertoire, as well as shorter works like his impromptus , mazurkas , nocturnes , waltzes and polonaises . Two important collections are the 24 Preludes Op. 28 , based loosely on Bach 's Well-Tempered Clavier , and the etudes , which are a staple of that genre for pianists. Chopin's two piano concertos , Opp. 11 and 21 , are masterpieces still often performed. In addition, he wrote several songs set to Polish texts, and several pieces including a piano trio and a sonata for cello and piano . For a complete list of Chopin's works by opus number, see List of compositions by Fr�d�ric Chopin . Other In commemoration of the genius of Fr�d�ric Chopin, the International Chopin Piano Competition is held in Warsaw , Poland every five years.

Eponyms Frédéric Chopin Biography - life, children, wife, young, son, old, information, born, time, year Frédéric Chopin Biography Paris, France Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, a Polish composer (a writer of music) and pianist, was one of the creators of the typically romantic character piece. All of his works include the piano. Early life Frédéric François Chopin was born on February 22, 1810, near Warsaw, Poland. He was the second of four children of Nicholas Chopin, a Frenchman, and his Polish wife, Justina, who had been a well-educated but poor relative in the Skarbek household, where Nicholas had been a tutor. At an early age, Chopin displayed artistic talents—he was an artist, wrote poetry, and played piano without any formal instruction. The gifted child also began composing his own music and had his first piece of music published when he was just seven years old. Young Chopin had a good education and later studied music privately with Joseph Elsner, founder and director of the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1817 Chopin's first composition was performed publicly.

A year later he himself performed in public, playing a concerto (music written for one or more instruments) by Adalbert Gyrowetz. By this time the young Chopin began drawing comparisons to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), another composer who had demonstrated spectacular talent at a young age. Musical training In 1826 Chopin became a full-time student at Elsner's conservatory, where he received an excellent foundation in theory, harmony, and melody. Elsner, after recognizing that Chopin's style was too original to force into traditional patterns, granted Chopin the freedom to develop along clear personal lines. Frédéric Chopin. Library of Congress . After visiting Berlin, Germany, where Chopin was exposed to the music of George Frederick Handel (1685–1759) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), Chopin returned to Warsaw and heard Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840). Chopin recognized that he must leave Warsaw for exposure to other musicians. He went to Vienna, Austria, to try to arrange the publication of several of his works.

After a successful debut at the Kärntnerthor Theater on August 11, 1829, he returned home only to prepare for a concert tour, this time through Germany and Italy. In Vienna Chopin composed the B Minor Scherzo and the G Minor Ballade, as well as others that demonstrated Chopin's fully developed personal style. Middle period When the twenty-year-old Chopin arrived in Paris, poor physical health prevented him from giving public performances. Nevertheless, he became a significant figure in Parisian artistic circles, numbering among his friends musicians, writers, and painters, as well as many wealthy and talented women. Chopin recognized that he did not have the stamina (strength) to compete in public against such talents as Franz Liszt (1811–1886) and Sigismund Thalberg (1812–1871). So long as he was able to earn enough by teaching, Chopin preferred composition to playing concerts. His musical tastes were public knowledge. Friendly with Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) and Mendelssohn, he was not impressed with their music.

Nor, for that matter, did he appreciate Robert Schumann's (1810–1856) work, despite Schumann's warm welcome written for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik when Chopin first arrived in Paris. Schumann introduced Clara Wieck to Chopin's work, and eventually her performances of Chopin's pieces made favorable impressions on many audiences. Final years Several young ladies appear to have been the object of Chopin's affections over the years, but the most celebrated female with whom he had a relationship was Aurore Dudevant, known as George Sand, whom he met in 1836. For nine years, beginning in 1838, after he had composed the "Funeral March" (which later became part of the B-flat Minor Sonata), she was his closest associate. Despite failing health, the composer completed his twenty-four Preludes in Valldemosa, Majorca (one of the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean). In 1846 Sand's children became a problem. Chopin sided with Solange, Sand's daughter, in arguments against Sand and her son, Maurice. Separation became inevitable, and the beginning of the end for Chopin.

His health failed, and he lost all interest in composition. Chopin then moved to England, where he gave several private performances in London and on May 15 played for Queen Victoria (1819–1901). After a rest in Scotland, he returned to London in the fall of 1848, where on November 16 he played a benefit for Polish refugees at the Guildhall. He returned to Paris shortly afterward, where he died of tuberculosis (a disease that attacks the lungs and bones) on October 17, 1849, in Paris, France. Although Chopin's output was rather small compared to other great composers, his works such as his sonatas (music for one instrument) in B flat minor (1840) and the concertos in E minor (1833) are still some of the most popular pieces in classical music.

For More Information Oct 7, 2008 @ 5:17 pm this is really good information about Frederic Chopin.thanks joe johnson Sep 7, 2011 @ 6:18 pm I've never really listened to Chopin's music, but I got to hand it to him, his music is just phenomenal. Just love it. Oh, by the way, great information on him. Although he died at such an early age of 39, him music and talents will forever live in our hearts, be it his fans or people that just love his music, like me now. kianna rezvani Oct 13, 2011 @ 6:18 pm I never knew a guy like Frederic Chopin could become like this famous. He is all over the world. Mostly all people know him!! Its very good information I gotta say though. And, it is very heartbreaking he dies at the age of 39! Thank you!

Question: What nationality was composer Frédéric Chopin?
Answer: POLISH